Ella

I have found that a little squirt bottle can be very effective in dealing with pets. It doesn’t hurt them at all, but it does irritate them, and they don’t like it.
A small pocket sized squirt gun would probably have her stopped from getting in front of you and stopping, if you squirt her when she does that, and maybe telling her “shoo !” At the same time, and pretty soon all you will need to do is shoo her when she gets to close and wants to stop.

I worry about the same thing with the dogs, and especially the larger one of Bobby’s, so I carry a squirt bottle if I go outside when he is in the back yard, and he knows not to jump on me when I have the spray bottle in my hand.
Ella will probably give you dirty looks, but it is better than accidentally stepping on her , or losing your balance and falling trying to avoid stepping on her.

A little whistle might work, too, because she would not like the shrill noise.

 

That even looks like her.

 

Guard Cat

 

Cutie has been gone since June 27. More than three months later, this is the first time that Ella dared to take Cutie's place. While she was alive, Cutie would have slapped her for taking her bed and her place next to my computer, and I think Ella has been afraid that Cutie would come out from somewhere and slap her. I have tried to get her to lie in the bed a few times but today, for the first time, she did.

She gets that same look in her eyes whenever I take a picture of her. She might look relaxed but as soon as I point the camera at her, she gets that skeptical look in her eyes, as if she is thinking, "I don't know if I want you doing that."

 

Our catsitter sends photos and videos of Ella every day, and she seems to be doing well. She is a partner in a non-profit that my wife and one other person are starting, so she's been by the house before, and is not a stranger. She comes by twice a day, checking food, water, and litter boxes, and also spends some time with her. I can see from the pictures that Ella is comfortable enough with her to play with her, so that's good. I miss her, though. We were going to spend a week at each of our two timeshares but decided to do just one this year, and I'm kind of glad we did. I hate being away from Ella for long. Ella is probably going stir-crazy too because she's used to going out during the day. We didn't want the catsitter to let her out because we couldn't put that responsibility on her. Although Ella nearly always comes back right away when I call her, I don't know if she'd do that for someone else. She might say, "You're not the boss of me."

 

It's cute when Ella plays in the leaves in the fall because she's the same color as the leaves. Also, despite being five years old, she doesn't seem to know the difference between a falling or blowing leaf and a live critter. She brings them in when she catches them. As long as it's moving, it's prey.

 

I've sprayed her with the water hose a few times, a couple of times intentionally. While she doesn't like it, she didn't seem to connect it to me. I think she just thought she'd gotten caught in a freakish rain. Global warming, probably.